Breakdown of Поезд ждали с минуты на минуту.
поезд
train
ждать
to wait (imperfective)
с минуты на минуту
any minute now
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Questions & Answers about Поезд ждали с минуты на минуту.
Why is the verb ждали in the plural when the English translation is singular ("was expected")?
This sentence uses an indefinite-personal construction. By using the third-person plural verb ждали (literally "[they] waited") without stating a subject, Russian shifts the focus to the action itself. This is a very common way to express the English passive voice in Russian.
Is поезд the subject of this sentence?
No, поезд is the direct object and is actually in the accusative case. Because поезд is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly like its nominative form. The literal structure is "[They] were expecting the train."
How does the phrase с минуты на минуту translate to "any minute"?
This is a fixed idiom that literally means "from minute onto minute." It uses the preposition с + genitive (минуты) to show the starting point, and на + accusative (минуту) to show the immediate destination. Together, they create the feeling of continuous, edge-of-your-seat anticipation.
Why use the imperfective verb ждали instead of a perfective equivalent?
Ждали is used because the sentence describes an ongoing background state in the past (the continuous process of waiting). A perfective verb would imply the action of waiting was completely finished, which would contradict the ongoing suspense of expecting a train to arrive "any minute."